The U.S. Department of Justice and state attorneys general told Microsoft Thursday they will not seek to break the software monopoly in two when the antitrust case returns to the U.S. District Court. The plaintiffs also announced they not pursue a rehearing of the claim that the company illegally tied the Windows operating system to Internet Explorer browser software.
Plaintiffs will seek an order limiting Microsoft's conduct, rather than urging the company be split into separate operating system and applications businesses as had been ordered by the District Court during an earlier phase of the case, according to a DOJ press release. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia overturned the breakup order on appeal, handing it back down to the lower court for reconsideration.
The DOJ has taken the lead on the antitrust case, in which 18 states are also plaintiffs.
The court will also be asked by the plaintiffs for time to investigate recent industry developments to evaluate whether changes in the market have made additional conduct restrictions unnecessary, according to the release. The DOJ "is taking these steps in an effort to obtain prompt, effective and certain relief for consumers," the statement said.
Worried about prolonging what has already been a lengthy trial, the DOJ believes that the appellate ruling established a basis for relief that will prevent future illegal conduct by Microsoft and will open the field to competition, according to the statement. The Appeals Court unanimously upheld the lower court's finding that Microsoft illegally maintained its monopoly on the operating systems of PCs.
In the appellate ruling in June, the Appeals Court overturned behavioral and structural remedies ordered by District Court Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson, including dividing Microsoft into two companies. The panel of appellate judges overturned those remedies, and ordered the case go back to the District Court.
The Appeals Court further ordered that Jackson be removed from the case because of inappropriate public comments he made about Microsoft. District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly was chosen by lottery to preside over the case. She has set a Sept. 21 date for a status conference hearing in the matter.
